ENTOMOLOGY TRIALS

Entomology Trials

The following experiments were conducted in Entomology under All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Cotton, in five center of North Zone (Faridkot, Bathinda, Hisar, Sirsa, Sriganganagar), eight centers in Central Zone (Akola, Nanded, Rahuri, Junagadh, Surat and Bharuch, Khandwa, Bhawanipatna and Banswara) and six centers in South Zone (Lam Guntur, Nandyal, Dharwad, Raichur, Chamarajanagar and Coimbatore)

• Ent 1(a) Screening of breeding material for resistance to insect-pests (National and Zonal Trials)
• Ent 1(b) Advance screening of promising entries for development of repository for sucking pests
• Ent 2 Seasonal dynamics to develop suitable forecasting model
• Ent 3 Survey for key and emerging pests in farmers’ fields for weekly advisory
• Ent4 Integrated Pest Management in Cotton
• Ent 5 Evaluation of Refugia in bag against bollworm complex in cotton (2022-23)
• Ent 6 Evaluation of prominent and label claimed insecticides against bollworm complex of cotton ( 2022-23)
• Ent 6a Evaluation of MakAdjuvol (Mineral Paraffin Oil) as adjuvant with insecticides—sponsored product
• Ent 7 Microbial based volatiles for sucking pest management in Bt cotton (Sponsored Technology)

Significant Achievements: 2022-23

• Promising sucking pest tolerant entries of Hirsutum identified in advance screening trials 2022-23
  • North Zone-Jassid : 2 entries ( PBH-79 N-Bt & ACRV-44 Bt) , Whitefly : 3 entries ( F-2732, ACRV44 Bt, HS-310) .
  • Central Zone-Jassid: 2 entries (AKH-2013-3& GISV 323), Whitefly: 2 entries (GJHV 522& RAH 1076).
  • South Zone-Jassid: 2 entries (RAH 1076& RHC 1409), Whitefly: 3 entries (RHC 1409, RAH-1076, AKH 2013-1).
• Seasonal dynamics of key pests in relation to climatic conditions recorded at North, Central and South Zone centers on N-Bt and Bt genotypes under unprotected conditions indicated that in case of Sucking pests ( Non-Bt and Bt)
  • Leafhopper peak activity was between 28th -34that different locations in North Zone, 35 th – 45 th in Central zone and 39 th – 47 th SMW in South Zone across N-Bt and Bt-genotypes selected for study.
  • Similarly, thrips peak activity was between 28 th -32 nd at different locations in North Zone , 34 th – 39 th in Central Zone and 34 th – 44 th SMW in South Zone across N-Bt and Bt-genotypes .
  • In case of whitefly peak activity was observed between 28th – 34that different locations in North Zone, 41 st – 52 nd in Central Zone and 38 th -51 st SMW in South Zone, across N-Bt and Btgenotypes selected for study.
  • In aphid population, peak activity was observed between 35th -52nd in Central and 34th – 48th SMW in South Zone, across N-Bt and Bt-genotypes selected for study.
• Bollworm dynamics in N-Bt-Cotton
  • North zone: 0 to 5.33 larval population / 5 plants of Spotted Bollworm; 0.77 to 40.82% green boll damage .Highest larval density of SBW was recorded at Sriganganagar location during 39th SMW. Highest green boll damage (%) was recorded at Sirsa during 44th SMW.
  • Central zone: 0-2.0 larval population of each American Bollworm, Tobacco caterpillar and Spotted Bollworm /5 plants. Green boll damage ranged between 0-90.0 percent. Peak activity of American Bollworm was during 41st SMW, Tobacco caterpillar during 40th SMW and Spotted Bollworm during 43rd SMW. The green boll damage ranged between 0-90 percent and maximum at Khandwa during 50th SMW.
  • In South zone, 0.0-5.60 larval population of ABW /5 plants, 0.0-5.0 tobacco caterpillar, 0.0-2.4 spotted bollworm and green boll damage 0.0-81.25 percent. Highest green boll damage (%) due to ABW/SBW/TC was recorded at Raichur during 34th SMW.
• Bollworm dynamics in Bt-Cotton
  • North zone: Highest PBW larval recovery recorded at Sriganganagar during 40 th SMW. The green boll damage (%) due to PBW was ranged from 0.50-11.25 and maximum damage at Sirsa during 39th SMW.
  • In Central zone, highest larval recovery recorded at Rahuri during 52 nd SMW. The green boll damage (%) due to PBW ranged from 0.0-40.0 and maximum damage at Akola during 02 nd SMW.
  • In South zone, highest larval recovery and green boll damage due to PBW (10.9-50.83%) recorded at Raichur
• Farmers’ Field Survey on key and emerging pests to issue weekly advisory
  • North zone: 1779 locations surveyed. Whitefly incidence crossed ETL at 708 locations; Jassid above ETL at 266 locations; Thrips above ETL at 49 locations& PBW at 393 locations. Whitefly and PBW were the key yield limiting pests during the season.
  • Central Zone: 2751 locations were surveyed. Leafhopper at 300 locations; whitefly at 38, thrips at 138, aphid at 282 and PBW at 131 locations crossed ETL. The hotspot reported for leafhopper in Banswara, for whitefly in Nanded, for thrips and aphid in Rahuri, Junagarh for PBW.
  • In South Zone, 3328 locations surveyed, leafhopper at 465, whitefly at 12, thrips at 216, aphid at 240 locations and PBW crossed ETL at 355 locations. The data indicated that hotspot of leafhopper, whitefly, thrips and aphid was in Raichur
• In an experiment on Integrated Pest Management in Cotton, at majority of the locations of all three zones population of the sucking pest i.e. jassids, whiteflies, thrips, aphids and PBW in case of bollworms were comparatively more in Farmers Practice (FP) in comparison to IPM practices except Akola & Rahuri. Population of natural enemies recorded was more in IPM as compared to FP. Average numbers of sprays applied under IPM were 4.17-5.20 and 6.17-7.67 in FP. Similarly, 16.79- 26.03 per cent higher yield was obtained in IPM over FP.
• Refuge in bag (non Bt seed mixed with Bt seed in the same bag) for management of resistance development in bollworm against cry protein: various proportion of Non-Bt and Bt seed mixed in the form of ‘Refuge in bag’ were compared with standard refuge (20% non Bt structured refuge at periphery) along with 100% Bt and 100% N-Bt treatments.
  • Green boll damage in N-Bt plants of various treatments (5% and 10% Non-Bt seed mixed with Bt-seed ) due to Helicoverpa/Earias, PBW (through destructive boll sampling) & open boll damage was recorded to be at par with standard refuge treatment (20% non Bt structured refuge at periphery) at majority of the locations but in few locations damage varied among the treatments.
  • Within the RIB treatments (Bt and N-Bt seed mix), maximum yield was obtained in treatment T5 (5% N-Bt + 95% Bt) and minimum yield was obtained in T-4 (RIB-Random-5-10% Minimal NonBt seeds Commercial Pack) but highest yield was obtained in the treatment sown with 100% Bt plants and lowest was in plots sown with 100% N-Bt.
• Among prominent insecticides evaluated against bollworm complex of cotton
  • Maximum reduction (%) over control in green boll damage due Helicoverpa/Earias was observed in Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC, Flubendamide 39.35SC, Spinetoram 11.7 SC, Spinosad 45 SC and Emamectin benzoate 5 SG at all locations of three zones.
  • Whereas for green boll damage due to PBW, maximum reduction (%) over control was observed in Bifentherin 10EC, Fenpropathrin 10 EC, Flubendamide 39.35SC, Indoxacarb 14.5 SC, Spinetoram 11.7 SC and Spinosad 45 SC in North zone ; Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC, Indoxacarb 14.5 SC, Spinosad 45 SC and Emamectin benzoate 5 SG in Central zone , Pyridalyl 10 EC as well as Spinosad 45 SC in South zone.
  • Minimum open boll and locule damage was observed in Fenpropathrin 10 EC, Indoxacarb 14.5 SC and Pyridalyl 10 EC in North, Central and South zone, respectively.
  • Highest yield was recorded in Spinetoram 11.7SC followed by Spinosad 45 SC treated plots.
• Effective novel microbial volatile formulations for trapping of sucking pest insects across all zones
  • Whitefly: CICRMV-W formulation followed by CICRMVBI-W&CICRMVBI-J
  • Jassid: CICRMV-J followed by CICRMVBI-J & CICRMVBI-W formulations
  • Thrips: CICRMV-T followed by CICRMVBI-T&CICRMVBI-W formulations
  • Aphid: CICRMV-A formulation